To start, Master and Man is a story that provokes many different emotions in readers, many of which you would likely not expect. In the beginning, we do not see very many of these emotions as it is shown more towards the end where we see how the characters actually feel.
For me in the beginning, Vassili did not seem like a very good person, he seemed to not care about anyone else but himself and that is the impression I had for the majority of the book. Not only did Vassili act this way, but he also portrayed himself as the good person on the outside. Nikita, on the other hand, showed me that he is a kind, generous and empathetic man, almost the complete opposite of his Master Vassili. The more the story goes, the more invested I felt as I read about Vassili and Nikita trudging through the winter storm. The story gets really interesting, especially near the last portion of the story. The end of the book actually surprised me quite a bit, as I was not expecting Vassili to sacrifice himself for his friend. It was not something I really saw somebody like him doing, especially after he tried running away and abandoning Nikita. I think that this was really heartwarming as it was almost Vassili’s apology for trying to manipulate Nikita. In the end, I really do think that the experiences of Vassili and Nikita had together made Vassili have this change of heart.
Even though both of these characters are extremely different from one another, they both have a really interesting dynamic, as Nikita is quite selfless while Vassili only thinks about himself. Although Vassili may not seem like the nicest person ever, I feel like the story does a good job of showing that even with all that selfishness deep down he still has some empathy that does eventually start to show. Nikita is always the one who tries to help others, and this is what really separates him from Vassili. It was obvious from the beginning that Nikita was going to survive no matter what because the writers made him the more likeable character. This story makes me think about two really good friends who are on an adventure but the sad part is one of them has to say goodbye even through all of the hardships. One of them still has to go, and that’s the sad part about all these different stories.
In conclusion for me Master and Man was a very enjoyable read that provoked many different emotions, primarily feelings of sadness, I think that it is a very captivating book that keeps the reader hooked.